Tag Archives: Populorum Progressio

Pope Benedict’s encyclical cuts across all ideological lines, calling all mankind to an examination of conscience regarding our fundamental approach to the meaning of the human person. He does not speak about mankind in the abstract, not as “the masses”, not as geopolitical statistics or economic utilities, but as the entire community of human beings in this world, each possessing inherent rights and duties. We are, he says, “the Family of Man.” Thus, the encyclical challenges human enterprises of every sort to see farther and deeper than we have until now, to understand that the development of a truly human world can only be based in solidarity with all members of the community: “The truth of development consists in its completeness: if it does not involve the whole man and every man, it is not true development.” (C in V, n. 18) The Pope warns that globalization’s principle new feature, the “explosion of worldwide interdependence,” presents colossal risks, for “without the guidance of charity in truth, this global force could cause unprecedented damage and create new divisions within the human family.” (C in V, n. 33).